Florida Guides Of Limited Value

September 10, 1989|Staff report

Two new Florida guides are available for help in traveling around the state.

Florida, the Sunshine State ($19.95, Video Technologies Network Inc.), a new 50-minute videotape intended as a guide to the state for visitors and new residents, is a superficial overview that might tempt people to come to Florida but doesn`t tell them much about it.

In the nicely photographed tape, the camera roams the state, stopping at most of the famous tourist attractions, spending the most time on places (listed at the end of the video) that provided film or assistance (the sponsors, maybe?) It comes across as a promotional film that the state tourist office might produce, with never a discouraging word about mosquitoes, bugs, hurricanes or other warts.

There are some strange lapses: In a purportedly new film, Walt Disney World`s newest theme park, Disney/MGM Studios, is nowhere to be seen or mentioned; Sea World is snubbed without a mention; and an oceangoing cruise ship at Port Everglades is identified as a sightseeing boat.

Need more information for the trip? This tape won`t help. The narrator mentions various unspecified local tourist offices and chambers of commerce around the state and skips mention of the state Office of Tourism in Tallahassee.

For $19.95, visitors and new residents probably could buy two good guidebooks to Florida. They wouldn`t get the pretty pictures, but they would learn a lot more. The tape is available at some bookstores or can be ordered directly from Video Technology Network Inc., 1000 N. Collier Blvd., Suite 18, Marco Island, Fla. 33937. Include $3.50 for handling and shipping and 6 percent Florida sales tax. Or use Visa or Mastercard and call 1-800-525-4447.

Hidden Florida, The Adventurers Guide ($12.95, Ulysses Press). As a source of Florida information, this new book packs in a lot of sightseeing choices, restaurant and hotel listings. But it never lives up to its subtitle, The Adventurers Guide, sticking to mostly-mainstream pursuits. It does list outdoor choices in each section: sportsfishing companies, boat rentals, skin diving choices, and so on.

The four writers, all well-steeped in Florida lore, are Stacy Ritz, who lives in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea; Candace Leslie; Marty Olmstead; and Chelle Koster Walton. Executive Editor Ray Riegert put together the book.

There are several glitches. A spring-training baseball ``special feature`` that dwells on the major league teams that train in Central Florida skips the teams elsewhere in the state. The book says the city of Orlando ``created an amusement park, Boardwalk and Baseball`` and lured the Kansas City Royals there. Actually, that theme park is some 30 miles from Orlando, is privately owned, is a makeover of another amusement park, and has absolutely no connection with Orlando. Oh, well. Most of the book seems accurate.

Hidden Florida is available at bookstores. Look for the cover full of pink flamingos.